What's Your Biggest NCAA Worry/Concern/Fear?
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“This is bat country.” –HST
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I fear mizzery won’t make the tournament. Ergo, can’t lose in the first round. However, a first round loss in the NIT would be pretty cool, too…
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Biggest concern: inconsistent officiating!
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People still stuck on VCU loss. Sure, it hurt, because we were the overall 1-seed, and that year Dook got an easy-path National Championship.
Put yourself in Self’s shoes and consider going into the VCU game, that your Jayhawks played lights-out against Richmond, and in the same arena, no less. So is he really going to change his pattern vs. another foe, especially with only 24hrs to prepare? And NOBODY mentions the fact, when talking about VCU, that maybe Self & staff told the players all they needed to know about the scout on VCU and they just didnt execute it? And how on earth is he going to foresee a trusted senior shooter like Reed going 1for7 from 3? And Markieff with 6 turnovers? That’s 12 possessions right there, and you all know Self says all the little things add up. Tyshawn DID drive it, and scored, and Marcus did his part. The 2 of them had 34-35pts combined, but nobody else helped, and Brady (25pts vs. Richmond) chose to play hotpotato. Nor did Brady do his lock-down-trademark-D, right when we needed it the most, nor his 3gun (we could have used). Let’s summarize that game in another way: our PTP’ers (Tyshawn, McM) did produce, the others were simply unable to back up the pregame swagger and talk, because thats not who they were. Not too much Billy Self can do about that. How do you make a team of upperclassmen “hit” their shots and play D?
But enough about 1 tourney loss…as there are surely worse (killer B’s, anyone?)
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@ralster You must learn from your mistakes that you made in order to not make them again. For example, if there is a game when the team is not shooting well and you are behind by double digits (VCU game), do you keep shooting or do you drive the ball?
I remember that game and they did not drive the ball and pound it inside from the beginning like you claim. Reed should not have been 1-7 for the game. He should have been like 1-4.
It was in the second half that the team decided to finally go to their strength, which is going inside. Unfortunately, they had dug themselves too deep of a hole in the first half.
The point I was trying to make was that Self needs to learn that when the shots arent falling you tell the team to drive the ball and get inside to the big guys. It is VERY risky to bank on guys like Reed and Morningstar shooting their way out a slump, especially in an Elite Eight game.
And yes, that is what Bill Self could have done.
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And as a matter of perspective, there is definitely worse than a Tourney exit in whatever year: You could spend your life rooting for a non-royalty program & praying each year that your team simply makes the field of 68 teams…no guarantees. Funny that royalty program assumptions/expectations are different than those of the other 350+ Div. 1 teams…
Enjoy each year’s run. Thank god for the chance that Bill Self gives us every year…and even in the year we didnt think we had much of a chance, the hearts of Robinson and Taylor showed what is possible with intense effort, and came within 3 missed dunks and a couple of clanked FTs of KU immortality.
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@DinarHawk I actually totally agreed with your post, and was going to do this reply. Yes, I remember Tyshawn driving it the 2nd half, as you say…In the first half we simply were running our offense, passing it to Reed for the kick-out 3…and maybe the fool’s gold in that 1 fateful game was that Tyrel Reed hit his very first 3 att, the one that toilet-bowled around and dropped. So the offense continued to try that approach. And the inside game got hamstrung by Markieff’s 6 turnovers (lane violation, stepped on baseline, etc…).
I think the next year, Self was forced to have Tyshawn “just drive it” due to no depth & stagnant offense…I think THAT brought Self out of his tendencies…plus the BIG fact that Tyshawn got better at penetrating to finish or draw fouls, instead of charging. Last year he lamented EJ’s lack of dribbledrive as EJs FT att were way down. In SelfBall, driving it is secondary to feeding the post, so the post game has to be frustrated to resort to driving, as in 2012, TRob was often doubleteamed, and Withey wasnt able to get his own shot reliably, thus the fallback DribDrive. But nice to see him quicker now to ask for penetrating pressure. I think that is the lasting legacy of Tyshawn’s ability: the impression on Self’s philosophy that I think it has obviously made.
RCJH
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What we have been developing this year is the ability to slash and draw fouls, be it Naa or Mason or Wiggybaby or Selden. We’ve even seen Ellis and Traylor dribble drive. I like the aggression, as it puts fouls on foes, which gets their guys cycling to the bench, cold, and out of rhythm.
This will allow us a better chance to win on a night the 3s arent dropping.
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My biggest fear is poor PG play. I’m a Tharpe fan, but the games where we’ve had trouble and lost have been: when we are physically over-matched up front, and when we encounter two PG issues - either we are pressed/trapped and handle it poorly or we run into a PG mis-match and Tharpe’s defensive deficiencies are exploited. I feel like we have gotten past the issue of facing more physical teams. I think we are better equipped to handle the press & traps. But I still think it’s a crap-shoot as to whether Naadir can handle an elite PG on the defensive end. We did just see him completely shut down Isaiah Taylor in the Texas re-match. Can he get that dialed in consistently? I don’t know.
There’s also always the things that you can’t control - injuries, poor officiating, and an opposing team/player getting uncharacteristically hot from 3.
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@ralster Sorry about that!
You are right about Self coming out of some of his old tendencies. By what theyve done lately, it looks like he might have learned from the losses to Northern Iowa and VCU.
This year, like you said, we have more guys that are able to score driving the ball than maybe ever in KU history. There is no reason why during a tournament when the shots arent falling to have quick ball movment around the perimeter, make the defense work, then penetrate the gaps in the defense.
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@nuleafjhawk My one big fear is of a bad loss. Here are my two most-feared bad loss scenarios, related to KU’s personnel.
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Wiggins disappears. I want Wiggins to continue his gradual, measured rise into the college hoops stratosphere. He doesn’t have to play hero ball down the stretch, but he needs to keep attacking the rim, being active, playing hard. If he struggles to score, he can generate offense at the free throw line by driving it and getting fouled. As long as Wiggs doesn’t fade in the Big Dance, his #1 RECRUIT tenure in Lawrence will be a success in my book and will help Self keep bringing in top talent.
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Our small guard committee fails. Tharpe. Mason. Frankamp. This has been dissected enough. As much as I want these guys to play with a chip on their shoulders and succeed, PG is our most inconsistent position and this is the most likely place we’ll see costly lapses. Let’s hope not!
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I have decided to have a new fear each day regarding the Tourney.
Yesterday it was fear of scheduling myself in the air during a big game in the Tourney.
Today, it is that Dick Vitale will commentate a crucial KU game while frontally nude.
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There are two ways to beat teams that are a threat at 3…
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Play good perimeter defense. Challenge every shot, and deny easy passes that allow shooters to go into an easy shooting motion. Fight hard through all ball screens… get out on top of the screens.
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Exhaust their guards. I’ve never seen totally exhausted guards put on a shooting clinic from 3 in the second half of a game… never. So we run some press to keep the tempo up and make their guards work hard the entire game. And we keep the tempo up… lots of quick passing, some open court game… lots of on and off ball screens requiring their guards to fight through… constantly use our bench to substitute so we stay fresh and fast!
Amazing how teams don’t use exhausting their opponents as a strategy. In football, it is well known and used. When a team’s offense continually goes 3-and-out it puts pressure on their defense to have to keep playing on the field. Consequently, defenses get tired and start giving up more first downs… more points.
Why don’t we ever seem to use exhausting our opponents as a strategy? How many teams have our level of quality depth?
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@jaybate can’t wait for tomorrow’s fear update!!!
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@VailHawk scary!!!
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@drgnslayr Agreed, we are way way deep. Run them into the ground.
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@JayhawkRock78 so… Let’s talk okie state. Game plan?
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I don’t have the bball IQ so many do on these threads. In general I would push the ball up quickly and pound the paint. When they start collapsing kick it out for the trey. If that isn’t falling work it back in and alternate a drive to the bucket with pull up jumpers when challenged. And be all means cover Smart like a blanket to deny him the ball.
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@JayhawkRock78 match ups? Wiggins on smart? Dang Forte, think Tharpe can handle him? Trying to remember last game.
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@JayhawkRock78 Forte had 23 pts, osu had 18 pts off fast break, to our 2. Just remember it was ugly!!! We out scored them by 12 in paint.
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Just returning to the original topic of this post – anyone notice what Virginia is doing right now? A team executing like that but under the radar a bit is dangerous.
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Fear for the Day:
Bob Knight trims his eye brows on national TV.
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Fear of the Day Daily Double:
Snacks dances nude in the locker room after KU wins the NC.
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@jaybate 1.0 if we win NC I wouldn’t care if anyone danced nude!!!
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@Crimsonorblue22 - You took the words right out of my mouth, oh it must have been while you were…STOP. Some days I can’t express anything without turning it into song lyrics.
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@nuleafjhawk My biggest fear is we do not find a way to win at Okie St. This game could be the launch pad for our quest of the NC. Against a hungry team (on the bubble) that needs a win to get in is like a lower ranked team that need a win to advance in the tournament. If we win this one, I think, our freshmen would graduate from the experience department. This one is huge and have the tell tales of how we are going to do in the tournament. RCJH
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@nuleafjhawk Definitely mine would be losing an early game because of a lack of intensity, will, toughness, fight. I have a good feeling about the tournament for KU this year though. All we need is the basketball Gods to be nice to us and convince the selection committee to give us potential teams that are beneficial to us winning the games!!
RCJH!! #DecadeOfDominance
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@Shanghai_Hawk agree, next game! Then Texas tech , and so on!
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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”-Marianne Williamson
My fear is that our guys know how athletic and dominating they can be but don’t always realize that in the games. We need to show that we are the big dogs in every game. I think our guys sometimes shy away from that will kill mentality although they have been better lately. My deepest fear is that this is quite possibly the most talented team ever assembled at KU and that we may leave something on the table. I think early in the season Wiggins exemplified the last line of that quote perfectly. He seemed to defer to much wanting to be the ultimate teamate. Lately he’s been more agressive and I love that. If allt hese guys realize their full potential consistently they will be cutting down the nets in Jerry’s world. (that stadium is awesome by the way)
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@Crimsonorblue22 I’m sorry, but when I saw the feed of Snacks dancing after the OU win, I DO FEAR IT!!!
The coaches and Hudy have to have an intervention before we lose him to high fructose corn syrup!!!
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Fear and Fear Again
Jay Bilas sues KU for beating Dook in a 4 overtime national championship game.
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Fear Fouls Out
All five starters foul out without making a basket, because all of the SI Swimsuit Models are seated behind the KU bench in the National Championship Game in see throughs.
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Fear Beams Up
Men without faces show up in the KU locker room during half time of the national championship game and their leaders says, “Beam us up,” and “The Mysterious Disappearance of the KU Basketall Team” joins “Mystery at Roswell” and “The Lost Squadron in the Bermuda Triangle” as staples of the UFO Channel.
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Fear Antes Up
Before the next OSU-KU game, T. Boone Pickens offers each referee $10M worth of shares in a new start up called Windmills’r’Us to ensure a favorable outcome. Each referee wears a little windmill pin on his lapel during the game.
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Awesome post!
Hey… the home game with Texas showed how these guys can play when inspired. Look at the stat line… we only shot 1.6% higher than our average from the field. But we blew them out because we controlled possession count… out-rebounding them, more blocked shots and steals than them, and less turnovers than them. We fought tooth and nail and drew more fouls and shot more FTs. We played good defense and shut down their offense to just 34.4% from the field. The stat line showed what an inspired Kansas team can play like.
Now compare that to the Texas game in Austin. We didn’t show up. We lost in all those areas I listed above concerning possessions… add on top of that our poor shooting from the field. We were very fortunate Texas only shot 42.9% from the field or we could have been smacked with the same level of beat down we gave them in AFH.
Maybe our best strategy moving forward is to completely stop practices and just get together in a southern baptist church and receive high-inspiration sermons from a motivating preacher man. I say this because all the work and strategy means nothing if the guys don’t show up to execute.
I really don’t see how these guys can maintain a constant motivation through March. They haven’t shown that type of motivational endurance all year. In fact… really… I think they only played really 2 games with some level of real motivation; Texas and Duke.
That is why it may be best to lose a couple more games before the tourney. Lets see if we can really blow it and get knocked down to a 3 seed. And lets see the national east coast media come raining down on all of these freshmen. Bring the clouds and the darkness… Bring down the tent on our circus.
Then we have a team meeting… and then players like Tarik step up and earn his nickname, “Black Death!” JoJo has a flashback to a tough survival moment in Cameroon. Something pops in Jamari’s head… the smell of one of those cars he was sleeping in… and how cold he was. I’m pretty sure other players on this team have closets full of bones, too.
That’s the type of brew that needs to come from a stirring pot.
It’s the brew they are drinking down there in Wichita. Marshall has his guys drinking the punch.
I’m hiding my deep fear. My deep fear that we might hit a wall in March trying to replace “66-65” with a better headline.
Lets face it… we all have that fear down there somewhere.
If we finally get that game with the Shockers… I’m hoping Self picks up the microphone and sits on a wood thrown similar to Jim Jones… and he unleashes a flurry of psychological blurb that makes these guys realize just how important that game is for Jayhawk fans. It will take one heck of a speech… but I am hopeful that our guys will drink the punch. And if they do, imagine a game very similar to our Texas game at AFH because in that mindset, it really doesn’t matter who we play; that opponent is going down for a hard landing! There isn’t anyone in this country that can stop Joel. There isn’t anyone in this country that can stop Andrew. And when our opponents are getting smacked with those two heavy punches we round it out with a flurry by Wayne… by Perry… by Naadir… by Jamari… and finally… by “Black Death!”
I’m holding on to that dream… if I don’t I can’t sleep at night.
I fear the nightmare. I fear Self not standing on his troops throats with a cup of punch. I fear this team treating someone like the Shockers as just an over-hyped mid-major. We’ve certainly taken that approach before… twice from the Mo Valley under Bill Self. This Shocker team is anything but normal. They come at you and they redefine the word “relentless.” I’ve watched a big chunk of their games this year, including one of their wins where their opponent was shooting something like 80% from the field in the first half. The Shockers kept fighting… kept scratching… and finally “relentless” worked. It’s tough to play 40 minutes of ass-kicking basketball! Texas gave up in AFH. Barnes is a nice guy, but he’s weak and it reflects under all that big boy flesh on his team. We will have to be truly prepared for this game. We will have to realize that a 10-pt run isn’t good enough. We will have to realize that if we don’t possess the momentum, they do. We will have to realize the value of every possession. We will have to realize what it truly takes to own the boards. And we have to do all of this realization for 40 continuous minutes!
If the nightmare happened I won’t sleep for a year. Maybe longer.
I like the Shockers… and I hope they beat everyone… except us!
I am not prepared to see Bill Self go 0-3 against the Mo Valley in March! It would be a stat that would always challenge his 10 consecutive B12 championships… at least, in my head (and probably several of yours).
Meanwhile… I’m in dream mode. And all I can see is our team that showed up against Texas at home!
Rock Chalk!
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Fear at the Microphone
ESPN pairs Brent Mussberger with new color man Don Rickles for the National Championship game and Rickles does stale insults piped to the arena loudspeakers until fans experience a collective psychotic break and begin group self immolation.
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Fear on the Half Shell
Bill Self, fearing a midlife potency crisis, overdoses on Oysters Rockefeller the night before the national championship, only to discover researchers have correlated oysters with ED.
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Fear of Tying
I fear that the entire KU team will simultaneously manifest laceaphobia and be unable to put on their adidas for the national championship game.
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Fear of Frequent Posting
I fear that frequent posting will be soon classified as a syndrome predisposing one’s favorite team not to win the national championship.
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Fear of the Jinx
Did I wear the right tshirt? Did I avoid walking under ladders or stepping on cracks? Did I become too confident? Did I follow my pregame ritual to a “t?”
Did I subconsciously wish bad juju on our opponents, consequently creating a karma issue?
Did I remember to cross off buffalo wings for game food? (indigestion)
Did I remember game time?!?!?! (yikes!)
Did I pay my cable bill on time?
PS: JB, thanks for backing me off the edge!
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I fear that our team of freshmen play like freshmen.
I also fear this years Stephen Curry whoever that may be.
I also fear this years Glen Rice, whoever that may be.
In other words players that can carry a team all the way.
I also fear a matchup with Wisconsin any earlier than the championship.
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@drgnslayr Anytime, slayr, anytime.
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@wissoxfan83
I fear Wisconsin Cheddar aged less than 5 years and 7 is better.
And, yes, Bo is one of those guys you don’t want to have go through to a ring. Beating him often destroys your own army.
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I fear the first weekend.
I fear KU getting late starting times the first weekend, so by the time I wake up ready to watch the game, the tournament is already over.
I fear HEM taking over the NCAA and renaming the season:
- non-conference preseason
- conference preseason
- preseason conference tournament
- NCAA Tournament season
– just funnin’)
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@drgnslayr Thanks for the compliment! I’m a long time reader but haven’t been posting for long. I can only help to catch up with the brilliance and insight posted on this site.
The Texas game blew me a way and showed me that when these guys realzie their potential there is no one in CBB that could stop them. The Texas game @ AFH was our best BPI performance of the season and coincendtally the game @ Austin was our worst BPI performance. I, like you am skeptical that they can maintain that motivation throughout the rest of the season and the BIG12 tourney. I think it might actually do the fellas some good to lose in the BIG12 tourney and build back up a head of steam to go into the big dance with a chip on their shoulders. In order to be effective we have to have a Naadir Tharpe that’s fully focused and engaged like he was against Texas. That was his best defensive game. If he cou;ld put together a defensive effort like he did against Texas and a will kill close out mentality like he did against OU in the final ten mins we will be unstoppable. He made some boneheaded mistakes at the end of the Tech game last week and we can’t have thos ein the tournament.
I think Tarik “Black Death” will have these guys ready to play. He’s only been here a year but he has the respect of that locker room and everything I read about him says he’s a great leader. I think his best is yet to come and that’s after seeing him own Ridley on Saturday. Our guys seem to play big in the biggest moments and while they have been inconsistent and that is my deepest fear of this team, when the chips are down I think they will shine. If someone is hot they need to just keep feeding that person and whoever is hot needs to own it and keep going. I loved seeing the fire from Wayne when he got in Conner’s face for not taking an open 3. These guys need to trust themselves and thier abilities.
Regarding WSU I think we would win that game. HCBS has mentioned time and time again how prideful these guys are. Look at what they ddi to Texas after losing to them. These guys are most new and when we thumped KSU @ home they were all talking about what it meant to beat them and how this was “our” state. They won’t let WSU have bragging rights and if we get KSU in the BIG12 tourney they are in for amud stomping for which i’'ll be in attendance. I don’t think HCBS will og 0-3 agaisnt the MVC, but you’re right if he did it would def be in a lot of peoples heads. Lets hope that nightmare doesn’t coem to fruition though. I like your dream mode a lot better!
Rock Chalk!
